Proverbs 17:17 NIV
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
How do you define a 'friend'? One option says it is 'a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations'. Another definition says it is 'a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. What this means is that a friend is not the occasional good person you can go to sometimes, but one you can always depend on to give you a helping hand, a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on, or even physical resources, depending on the need of the moment. The verse says a friend loves at all times. It is even more important to consider the fact that nothing is said of the person the friend needs to love. You give what you have; even if all you get is hatred and bitterness, you do not give the same in return. This love is what I have received from God. Can God give me this kind of love, and I will then struggle to show the same love to other people?
If indeed I am a friend as defined above, can I love other people the way God has loved me? The same argument also applies to being a brother. God has so ordained it that we all come from families. We do not fall from the sky. The reason why God has placed us in families and communities is so we can provide support and succour to one another. Being a brother or a friend isn't first about natural birth or blood but by that invisible thread of humanity. Life will happen to the best of us; we may not always have what we want when we want it, but we have the comfort of God's provision in the lives He has placed around us. Lives have been gifted with what we need, and we have also been gifted with what will be blessings to other people. If I hoard the blessings, it does me no good. I must play my part well; I must be the friend, brother or sister that God can entrust lives into my hands. Would I be a good steward of God's great treasures in this new year? Can God count on me? God's time of favour is here.
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